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History


The founder of Scouting, Lord Robert Baden-Powell (B-P) was born in 1857 in England. He was a fun loving adventurous boy who liked to explore the wilderness.

He joined the British Army and began work as a young army officer in India doing scouting, map-making and reconnaissance. He was very successful and trained other soldiers in effective scouting techniques.

After the Boer War he became a national hero and upon his return to England was asked to develop a more expansive training program for the Boy's Brigade.

In 1907 he held a camp for 22 boys on Brownsea Island in Dorset to try out his ideas about training. He taught the boys useful camping and bush survival skills as well as encouraged the pursuit of personal development. The camp was successful and in 1908 he began to publish a fortnightly article titled Scouting for Boys. The publication was a huge success and instead of integrating his training into pre-existing organisations young boys began to form their own Scout Troops throughout the country. It soon spread to the British colonies along with other parts of the world.

This was the beginning of the World Scouting Movement.

 In 1910 Lord Baden-Powell retired from the army and devoted the rest of his life to providing support and guidance for the youth movement he had created. He established a training centre for Scout Leaders (adults who assist youth members in their scouting journey) called Gilwell Park and wrote more than 30 books.

Additionally in 1910 his sister Agnes established Girl Guides as an equivalent movement for young females.

 In 1920 the first international Scout Jamboree took place at Olympia, London and Baden-Powell was unanimously declared Chief Scout of the World.

 The World Scout Movement has gone from strength to strength since then and is currently the largest youth organisation in the world.





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